Cannon Solve Mystery of Sunken Ship
But soon the sun
came out, a good omen.
Jacob agreed to let Sam
do the guiding, so we
circled back outside
with Sam in the bows
intently watching the
bottom.
Suddenly came the
cry: "Dere dey is!"
Sure enough, even
without a waterglass
the long shapes of can
non could be distin
guished on the bottom,
at either side of us.
The anchor went
overboard in a hurry,
holding the boat di
rectly over a group of
the longest guns.
Through the waterglass
it was a thrilling sight!
Cannon, cannon, every
where about.
A single gun lay
across a rock, and from
'
its upward-pointing
4
muzzle a purple sea fan
waved gently to the
tide.
Just beyond,
three cannon stretched
crisscross, all covered
with marine growth.
Reconstructing a
Sea Tragedy
A large piece of iron
with a ring in the end
protruded from a sandy
patch, surrounded by
mysterious shapes
grown over by coral.
Charles H. Baker, Jr.
Of the vessel's hull
Waterglasses Reveal the Wreck of a Mystery Ship!
nothing remained, but
from the number of
The author looks on as Sam Fales, diver, and Commodore Hugh Matheson
te
nu
er of (with hat) peer through the glass-bottomed tubs at a thrilling undersea sight.
cannon there could be Over a stretch of nearly two acres, coral-encrusted old cannon are strewn,
no doubt that we were
some piled atop each other, some lying alone.
gazing down upon the
last resting place of a great ship.
reef into deeper water. As she careened, she
From the position of the guns, the sea threw the heavy cannon through their ports
tragedy could be reconstructed with reason-
on the lower side. The upper tiers of guns
able accuracy. Cannon spread over the rugged
came battering and smashing down through
bottom for about two hundred feet, in a rough the vessel's sides into the sea, where some fell
line almost north and south. Just beyond the across those already cast from the lower side.
north end, a wicked-looking reef, smothered in
The heavy swell made diving difficult, but
white foam as the sea broke over it, marked Williamson decided to attempt it. His aims
the point where the vessel's bow had struck, were to determine whether the cannon were
She must have filled and slipped back off the iron or brass, and to estimate their size
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